What happened when an Orthodox Jewish congregation went to a gay bar?

When our synagogue heard about the horrific tragedy that took place at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, it was at the same time that we were celebrating our festival of Shavuot, which celebrates God’s giving of the Torah.

As Orthodox Jews, we don’t travel or use the Internet on the Sabbath or on holidays, such as Shavuot. But on Sunday night, as we heard the news, I announced from the pulpit that as soon as the holiday ended at 9:17 p.m. Monday, we would travel from our synagogue in Northwest Washington to a gay bar as an act of solidarity. …

Approximately a dozen of us, wearing our kippot, or yarmulkes, went down as soon as the holiday ended. Some of the members of our group are gay, but most are not. We did not know what to expect. As we gathered outside, we saw one large, drunk man talking loudly and wildly. I wondered whether we were in the right place. Then my mother, who was with me, went up to a man who was standing on the side of the building. She told him why we were there. He broke down in tears and told us his cousin was killed at Pulse. He embraced us and invited us into the Fireplace.

We didn’t know what to expect, but it turned out that we had so much in common. We met everyone in the bar. One of the patrons told me that his stepchildren were actually bar-mitzvahed in our congregation. Another one asked for my card so that his church could come and visit. The bartender shut off all of the music in the room, and the crowd became silent as we offered words of prayer and healing. My co-clergy Maharat Ruth Friedman shared a blessing related to the holiday of Shavuot, and she lit memorial candles on the bar ledge. Then everyone in the bar put their hands around each other’s shoulders, and we sang soulful tunes. After that, one of our congregants bought a round of beer for the whole bar.

Everyone in the bar embraced each other. It was powerful and moving and real and raw.

Some us faith for bad ends, other use faith for very good ends – such as this.

Huevon

Rich Prick

The other day one of our resident lefties criticised the right for allegedly on the one hand not being supportive of same-sex marriage but being in support of gays.

I’ve been thinking about that and I think this story illustrates the answer to that criticism. Whilst some on the right might not have been wildly enthusiastic supporters of same-sex marriage (I’m neutral on it personally), we want all gays alive and free to live their lives without fear.

You can make up you own mind over whether Islam and its supporters stand for the same proposition.

Just goes to show the moderates in most religions can get on with others and live and work in harmony. the problems are always the fundies and the extremists. Always.

IMHO its up to the moderates in a religion to do all they can to distance the extremists and show they are the outliers not the centre of the faith.

Seems to me in my seventh decade on this earth that the vast majority of people can get on. Its the outsiders that cant and the ones that the majority must tale all possible action against to terminate with extreme prejudice where necessary.

Richard

The fawning, lack of critical thinking, and emotionalising above truly is astounding!

Stripping out all the non-essential self publicising PR puff piece bullshit and the story in summary is 12 Jewish guys walk into a gay bar, say a prayer, sing some songs and then one of the gay ones buys a round of beers.

How is this “news” (maybe because it’s published in the Jewish one Washington Post)? Is it perhaps because Jews are generally always on the take and one actually decided to reach into his pocket and buy a round of beers……..on a Monday night….

Sorry cuckservatives, I see far more selfless acts on a daily basis. Amazing people who have given their entire lives to helping others and who were so selfless and thinking they did anything of note, turned down recognition via the Queen”s New Years Honours list.

Perhaps the homosexualists should have asked these 12 men why their fellow co-religionists are so active in bringing the Muslims to America who shot up the gay bar in the first place?

From a bid to overcome resistance to building a mosque in New Jersey to defending a Muslim student at a military academy who wants to wear a hijab, Jewish groups this week joined efforts to stop anti-Muslim discrimination.

Nearly a dozen Jewish groups are also backing legislation against banning entry to Muslims, prompted by a proposal for such a ban by presidential candidate Donald Trump

And as for “Jews & homosexual’s have lots in common” line – don’t get me started!

“The truth is still the truth even if it is a minority of one” – Ghandi

sam green

Kimbo

Just watched Story on TV3 tonight. So it is “not certain” that Islam was a factor in the attack on the Orlando nightclub and instead it could have been homophobia (because religious extremists of whatever flavour never target the LGBT community! //)…but the racism and anti-immigration rhetoric coming from the likes of Brexit and Donald Trump surrounding the murder of Jo Cox is “scary”…even though some form of mental instability was likely with both perpetrators.

At times it’s almost like…Whale Oil is right. How can otherwise intelligent people be so inconsistent and enslaved to their ideological prejudices? On both sides of the divide!

Johnboy

Rich Prick

Guess what, I’ve just become a gay activist. Not one apologist on the left, be they politicians, the media, bloggers, the media, or leftie frequenters of this site have railed against the ideology that would rather see gays dead. That’s fucking appalling. Let me repeat what an invited Iman said at an Orlando mosque just three weeks ago:

death is the sentence, lets not be embarrassed about it. It is the compassionate thing to do

Well, Iman whoever, go fuck yourself. I will defend every gay person you target your “sentence” at. Every leftie who agrees, make it known now. Thanks.

Rich Prick

Gays, the left hate you now. They’re a fickle bunch. Beheadings are simple affairs, you bow your head over a trough, then the Muslim slices your head off into it and your blood drains into a plug hole. Or the Muslim will just shoot you on the dance floor. That’s the nicer way of going, but you get no choice in the matter. If Islam gets to run the place.

stephieboy

I can’t help feeling, Rich Prick, that these out pourings of solidarity being expressed for the LGBT community, feminism and Judaism ,which we see coming from the far right end of the political spectrum, have less to do with understanding the oppressive currents these groups are forced to navigate and more about alienating and demonising the latest targeted scapegoats, Muslims.

Why? because it doesn’t fit your deluded narrative?
Do you realize you just revealed your own bigotry Yozie boy?

OK, Shunda barunda, I have read instances where right-wing sites, Libertarian only, have expressed support for gay rights without going into some frothing diatribe about the illiberal nature of Islam.
Put aside those Libertarian debates on sexuality and try providing a link to an instance of right-wing support for LBGT, women or Judaism that isn’t being used as a cloak to denigrate Muslims.

tom hunter

Earlier this year, 200 progressive activists stormed the downtown Chicago Hilton with the intention of disrupting a gay rights event.

Wait! What?

Not that they had anything against gay rights. No, the object of their contempt was the Israelis who had organized this event to support the rights of gay people. And that just didn’t fit the progressives’ political agenda.

As the LGBT community is starting to realise in the issue of Orlando and Islam. Islam’s at the top of the pile.

Israel is arguably the friendliest nation in the world for people who identify with the LGBT community, indeed the only safe place for gays in the Middle East.

But the opposition to Israel’s existence is so virulent that Israel’s detractors have deemed gay rights in Israel as part of a political conspiracy to divert attention from the Palestinian issue. “Pinkwashing” is the term leftists use to demonize and delegitimize Israel’s leadership in gay rights.